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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 347.7326
EAN: 9780385516402
ISBN: 0385516401
Label: Doubleday
Manufacturer: Doubleday
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: September 18, 2007
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: September 18, 2007
Sales Rank: 7222
Studio: Doubleday
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin takes you into the chambers of the most important—and secret—legal body in our country, the Supreme Court, and reveals the complex dynamic among the nine people who decide the law of the land.
Just in time for the 2008 presidential election—where the future of the Court will be at stake—Toobin reveals an institution at a moment of transition, when decades of conservative disgust with the Court have finally produced a conservative majority, with major changes in store on such issues as abortion, civil rights, presidential power, and church-state relations.
Based on exclusive interviews with justices themselves, The Nine tells the story of the Court through personalities—from Anthony Kennedy's overwhelming sense of self-importance to Clarence Thomas's well-tended grievances against his critics to David Souter's odd nineteenth-century lifestyle. There is also, for the first time, the full behind-the-scenes story of Bush v. Gore—and Sandra Day O'Connor's fateful breach with George W. Bush, the president she helped place in office.
The Nine is the book bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin was born to write. A CNN senior legal analyst and New Yorker staff writer, no one is more superbly qualified to profile the nine justices.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - good background knowledge. very quick read
This is one of the unusual book that I managed to finish reading in two days. The author provided good balance of theorectical legal discussion, justices' personality/background and Washington politics/gossips. The shortcoming of such quantity of information is that the content is only sufficient to entertain readers who don't have much basic knowledge of the Supreme Court, like me. (I tend to read the business or foreign section of newspaper, but skip news related to legal issues).
Potential reader must know that the author did not bother to hide that he is a liberal. Reading a well-written book that happens to agrees with my social views brings additional pleasure. But, I suspect that social conservatives could find this book biased and potentially enraging.
P.S. definitely get the version of the book that has the year 2008 update.
Rating: - A very readable overview of the Rehnquist court
THE NINE is a very readable synopsis of the members and inner workings of The Supreme Court under Rehnquist's leadership. Each judge is examined in some detail with much of the focus falling on the star of this court, O'Connor. The overall scope of the book does not lends itself to an in depth examination of any particular judge or case; instead it's main function is to provide the reader with a concise breakdown of The Court's recent history and as such it serves its purpose well. For the reader with a casual interest in the Court's operations and anyone wishing to examine the premier cases that this court dealt with, Bush v Gore , Lawrence v. Texas, The Schiavo case or Guantanamo Bay, this book is a nice overview.
Rating: - It All Boils Down to Ideology
It is understandable why Mr. Toobin's "The Nine" received so many kudos and vaulted onto numerous book critics' top-ten list for the year. Like three of his earlier works pertaining to the OJ Simpson trial, President Clinton's impeachment fiasco and the 2000 Florida recount catastrophe, the author has produced a knowledgable and engrossing book about the Supreme Court. I have always been perplexed and discouraged about the near total indifference by many voters when it comes to a potential President's effect on the makeup of the Court. Mr. Toobin has done a great service by fleshing out the individual Justices who reside in this important institution. The Justices are not depicted as static, one-dimensional beings, but individuals who continue to evolve during their tenures on the Court. Is the book opinionated? Absolutely. Is he a harsher critic of the more conservative Justices? Definitely. Is the book educational and worth reading? Without a doubt.
Rating:  - Liberal bias
There are a lot of "facts" in this book which are better described as the author's liberal bias. Toobin had some direct access to individual justices, but not all, and often resorts to his opinions. If you like liberal interpretations, this is for you. Objectivity is non-existent.
Rating: - Prompt shipment - new condition as promised
The book arrived promptly in new condition as promised.
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